Merge pull request numpy#26418 from ngoldbaum/stringdtype-c-api-docs

DOC: add reference docs for NpyString C API

Author: charris

doc/source/reference/c-api/index.rst

@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ code.
    iterator
    ufunc
    generalized-ufuncs
+   strings
    coremath
    datetimes
    deprecations

doc/source/reference/c-api/strings.rst

@@ -0,0 +1,268 @@
+NpyString API
+=============
+
+.. sectionauthor:: Nathan Goldbaum
+
+.. versionadded:: 2.0
+
+This API allows access to the UTF-8 string data stored in NumPy StringDType
+arrays. See `NEP-55 <https://numpy.org/neps/nep-0055-string_dtype.html>`_ for
+more in-depth details into the design of StringDType.
+
+Examples
+--------
+
+Loading a String
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+
+Say we are writing a ufunc implementation for ``StringDType``. If we are given
+``const char *buf`` pointer to the beginning of a ``StringDType`` array entry, and a
+``PyArray_Descr *`` pointer to the array descriptor, one can
+access the underlying string data like so:
+
+.. code-block:: C
+
+   npy_string_allocator *allocator = NpyString_acquire_allocator(
+           (PyArray_StringDTypeObject *)descr);
+
+   npy_static_string sdata = {0, NULL};
+   npy_packed_static_string *packed_string = (npy_packed_static_string *)buf;
+   int is_null = 0;
+
+   is_null = NpyString_load(allocator, packed_string, &sdata);
+
+   if (is_null == -1) {
+       // failed to load string, set error
+       return -1;
+   }
+   else if (is_null) {
+       // handle missing string
+       // sdata->buf is NULL
+       // sdata->size is 0
+   }
+   else {
+       // sdata->buf is a pointer to the beginning of a string
+       // sdata->size is the size of the string
+   }
+   NpyString_release_allocator(allocator);
+
+Packing a String
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+
+This example shows how to pack a new string entry into an array:
+
+.. code-block:: C
+
+   char *str = "Hello world";
+   size_t size = 11;
+   npy_packed_static_string *packed_string = (npy_packed_static_string *)buf;
+
+   npy_string_allocator *allocator = NpyString_acquire_allocator(
+           (PyArray_StringDTypeObject *)descr);
+
+   // copy contents of str into packed_string
+   if (NpyString_pack(allocator, packed_string, str, size) == -1) {
+       // string packing failed, set error
+       return -1;
+   }
+
+   // packed_string contains a copy of "Hello world"
+
+   NpyString_release_allocator(allocator);
+
+Types
+-----
+
+.. c:type:: npy_packed_static_string
+
+    An opaque struct that represents "packed" encoded strings. Individual
+    entries in array buffers are instances of this struct. Direct access
+    to the data in the struct is undefined and future version of the library may
+    change the packed representation of strings.
+
+.. c:type:: npy_static_string
+
+    An unpacked string allowing access to the UTF-8 string data.
+
+    .. code-block:: c
+
+      typedef struct npy_unpacked_static_string {
+          size_t size;
+          const char *buf;
+      } npy_static_string;
+
+    .. c:member:: size_t size
+
+        The size of the string, in bytes.
+
+    .. c:member:: const char *buf
+
+        The string buffer. Holds UTF-8-encoded bytes. Does not currently end in
+        a null string but we may decide to add null termination in the
+        future, so do not rely on the presence or absence of null-termination.
+
+        Note that this is a ``const`` buffer. If you want to alter an
+        entry in an array, you should create a new string and pack it
+        into the array entry.
+
+.. c:type:: npy_string_allocator
+
+    An opaque pointer to an object that handles string allocation.
+    Before using the allocator, you must acquire the allocator lock and release
+    the lock after you are done interacting with strings managed by the
+    allocator.
+
+.. c:type:: PyArray_StringDTypeObject
+
+    The C struct backing instances of StringDType in Python. Attributes store
+    the settings the object was created with, an instance of
+    ``npy_string_allocator`` that manages string allocations for arrays
+    associated with the DType instance, and several attributes caching
+    information about the missing string object that is commonly needed in cast
+    and ufunc loop implementations.
+
+    .. code-block:: c
+
+        typedef struct {
+            PyArray_Descr base;
+            PyObject *na_object;
+            char coerce;
+            char has_nan_na;
+            char has_string_na;
+            char array_owned;
+            npy_static_string default_string;
+            npy_static_string na_name;
+            npy_string_allocator *allocator;
+        } PyArray_StringDTypeObject;
+
+    .. c:member:: PyArray_Descr base
+
+        The base object. Use this member to access fields common to all
+        descriptor objects.
+
+    .. c:member:: PyObject *na_object
+
+        A reference to the object representing the null value. If there is no
+        null value (the default) this will be NULL.
+
+    .. c:member:: char coerce
+
+        1 if string coercion is enabled, 0 otherwise.
+
+    .. c:member:: char has_nan_na
+
+        1 if the missing string object (if any) is NaN-like, 0 otherwise.
+
+    .. c:member:: char has_string_na
+
+        1 if the missing string object (if any) is a string, 0 otherwise.
+
+    .. c:member:: char array_owned
+
+        1 if an array owns the StringDType instance, 0 otherwise.
+
+    .. c:member:: npy_static_string default_string
+
+        The default string to use in operations. If the missing string object
+        is a string, this will contain the string data for the missing string.
+
+    .. c:member:: npy_static_string na_name
+
+        The name of the missing string object, if any. An empty string
+        otherwise.
+
+    .. c:member:: npy_string_allocator allocator
+
+        The allocator instance associated with the array that owns this
+        descriptor instance. The allocator should only be directly accessed
+        after acquiring the allocator_lock and the lock should be released
+        immediately after the allocator is no longer needed
+
+
+Functions
+---------
+
+.. c:function:: npy_string_allocator *NpyString_acquire_allocator( \
+        const PyArray_StringDTypeObject *descr)
+
+     Acquire the mutex locking the allocator attached to
+     ``descr``. ``NpyString_release_allocator`` must be called on the allocator
+     returned by this function exactly once. Note that functions requiring the
+     GIL should not be called while the allocator mutex is held, as doing so may
+     cause deadlocks.
+
+.. c:function:: void NpyString_acquire_allocators( \
+        size_t n_descriptors, PyArray_Descr *const descrs[], \
+        npy_string_allocator *allocators[])
+
+     Simultaneously acquire the mutexes locking the allocators attached to
+     multiple descriptors. Writes a pointer to the associated allocator in the
+     allocators array for each StringDType descriptor in the array. If any of
+     the descriptors are not StringDType instances, write NULL to the allocators
+     array for that entry.
+
+     ``n_descriptors`` is the number of descriptors in the descrs array that
+     should be examined. Any descriptor after ``n_descriptors`` elements is
+     ignored. A buffer overflow will happen if the ``descrs`` array does not
+     contain n_descriptors elements.
+
+     If pointers to the same descriptor are passed multiple times, only acquires
+     the allocator mutex once but sets identical allocator pointers appropriately.
+     The allocator mutexes must be released after this function returns, see
+     ``NpyString_release_allocators``.
+
+     Note that functions requiring the GIL should not be called while the
+     allocator mutex is held, as doing so may cause deadlocks.
+
+.. c:function:: void NpyString_release_allocator( \
+        npy_string_allocator *allocator)
+
+     Release the mutex locking an allocator. This must be called exactly once
+     after acquiring the allocator mutex and all operations requiring the
+     allocator are done.
+
+     If you need to release multiple allocators, see
+     NpyString_release_allocators, which can correctly handle releasing the
+     allocator once when given several references to the same allocator.
+
+.. c:function:: void NpyString_release_allocators( \
+        size_t length, npy_string_allocator *allocators[])
+
+     Release the mutexes locking N allocators. ``length`` is the length of the
+     allocators array. NULL entries are ignored.
+
+     If pointers to the same allocator are passed multiple times, only releases
+     the allocator mutex once.
+
+.. c:function:: int NpyString_load(npy_string_allocator *allocator, \
+               const npy_packed_static_string *packed_string, \
+               npy_static_string *unpacked_string)
+
+     Extract the packed contents of ``packed_string`` into ``unpacked_string``.
+
+     The ``unpacked_string`` is a read-only view onto the ``packed_string`` data
+     and should not be used to modify the string data. If ``packed_string`` is
+     the null string, sets ``unpacked_string.buf`` to the NULL
+     pointer. Returns -1 if unpacking the string fails, returns 1 if
+     ``packed_string`` is the null string, and returns 0 otherwise.
+
+     A useful pattern is to define a stack-allocated npy_static_string instance
+     initialized to ``{0, NULL}`` and pass a pointer to the stack-allocated
+     unpacked string to this function.  This function can be used to
+     simultaneously unpack a string and determine if it is a null string.
+
+.. c:function:: int NpyString_pack_null( \
+        npy_string_allocator *allocator, \
+        npy_packed_static_string *packed_string)
+
+   Pack the null string into ``packed_string``. Returns 0 on success and -1 on
+   failure.
+
+.. c:function:: int NpyString_pack( \
+        npy_string_allocator *allocator, \
+        npy_packed_static_string *packed_string, \
+        const char *buf, \
+        size_t size)
+
+   Copy and pack the first ``size`` entries of the buffer pointed to by ``buf``
+   into the ``packed_string``. Returns 0 on success and -1 on failure.